The Independent Mid-Card 01.17.07: Albright vs. Punk

Brent Albright vs. CM Punk
Ohio Valley Wrestling – OVW TV – October 29, 2005 – Louisville, KY
Note: Match originally taped on October 26, 2005

The Wrestlers:
Brent Albright – A longtime OVW stalwart, “The Shooter” Brent Albright has been accused of being a Chris Benoit clone. I suppose, however, that since Benoit is to some degree a Dynamite Kid clone, there are worse wrestling lines to emulate. Viewed as an expert submission wrestler and a dangerous suplex machine, Albright is at this point a former OVW Triple Crown champion, having held all three of the company’s major titles (Heavyweight, Tag Team, TV). Albright, who had lost the OVW Heavyweight title to Johnny Jeter in August, had recently been having trouble with OVW TV Champion Ken Doane.

CM Punk –A recent addition to OVW after signing with WWE over the summer, CM Punk is viewed by many Independent fans as one of Ring of Honor’s true legends. Punk had spent most of the summer at the center of an incredible angle where he had threatened to leave ROH with the World Title. In the end, he was finally defeated in a tremendous 4-way elimination title bout by James Gibson and then put on an emotional farewell match with best friend and former partner Colt Cabana on his way out of the company. Though reasonably cocky, Punk has long considered one of the top in-ring performers and on the North American Independent wrestling scene, and so it was of little surprise when he was offered a WWE developmental deal. In recent matches, Punk had defeated Elijah Burke, but was on the losing end of a handicap match, falling to Burke & Albright while teaming with Doug Basham and Mo’ Green.

The Match:
Miseria Cantare (The Beginning) hits and CM Punk joins us in the entranceway. Punk, while still billed from Chicago (or more accurately, Chicago, Illi-NOIZ, because you’ve got to love that Kentucky styling), is announced at 245 pounds, which is just silly, because he was introduced at 227 pounds in his final ROH match and he absolutely didn’t add 18 pounds of anything in the two months between that match and this one. Linkin Park’s Faint starts to blare over the sound system and Brent Albright quickly makes his way to the ring. Albright is wearing long tights and still has his long hair at this point, for those scoring at home. Without much fanfare, the ref calls for the bell and we’re off.

Albright offers a handshake in the middle of the ring, but Punk just examines his outstretched hand. Punk finally decides to decline the handshake and they circle to start. Collar-and-elbow tie-up and Punk grabs a headlock. He reverses around a bit, switching to a hammerlock and then quickly back to the headlock. The Shooter reverses to a hammerlock, but Punk gets a standing switch to one of his own, so Albright takes him down with a fireman’s carry and offers the handshake again. It seems we’ve got our theme. Punk again turns down Albright and gets a single-leg takedown into a quick cover that doesn’t even get a one-count. Albright gets a single-leg takedown of his own (for a similar no-count) and then armdrags Punk before offering the handshake again. Punk, by the way, is actually selling the armdrag as having caused a bit of damage to his arm in a nice touch. At this point, the crowd is chanting for Punk to “Shake His Hand”, but he ignores the chant and they circle. Punk stops in the corner to stomp his foot, changing the chant from “Shake His Hand” to “PUNK PUNK PUNK” in an interesting sociological moment.

Punk grabs a side headlock, but gets sent to the ropes by Albright. Punk gets the better end of a shoulderblock and then mocks Albright with a handshake motion before running the ropes. They do a leapfrog sequence until the Shooter gets a hip toss for a one-count. Punk gets his own hip toss in, but Albright kicks him off when he goes for a cover. Punk goes for another hip toss, but Albright reverses to another one of his own. Punk thinks Albright is going to go for a cover and goes to kick him off, but Albright catches his legs and rolls him over to again offer a handshake. Punk stands up and looks like he might accept, but instead just slaps Albright across the face. Punk follows up with a couple more slaps and then a spinning back chop to the face. Punk kicks the downed Albright in the head as we abruptly head to commercial.

We return with Punk going for a cover after hitting what may have been a DDT. Whatever it was, it gets Punk a close two-count. Punk lifts Albright up and hits a hard chop to the chest. A jab and another chop follows, but Albright tries to come back with a chop of his own. Punk gets a headbutt and the two exchange strikes until Albright whips Punk cross corner. He runs into Punk’s boot on a blind charge, but gets an exploder suplex when Punk goes for a second rope elbow strike. Both men sell their exhaustion for a few moments as Punk sells a back injury. They make their way to their feet and Albright gets a running clothesline. He follows with a back elbow off of an Irish whip and then an overhead belly-to-belly suplex after sending Punk off the ropes again. Punk recovers and reverses a cross-corner whip, but Albright comes out of the corner with a running forearm and calls for the Crowbar (modified Fujiwara armbar).

He gets an Arm Stunner (jumping armbreaker over the shoulder) and then tries to put him in the Crowbar, but Punk fights it and Albright can’t quite get it locked in. Punk reverses with a single-leg takedown and Punk applies the Crowbar to Albright. Albright tries to roll out to reverse the hold, but Punk hangs on and keeps the pressure on. Another attempt at a reversal goes nowhere, as Punk tenaciously holds on, but this time Albright is close enough to get his foot on the ropes to break. Punk pulls Albright to the corner and goes up for an attempt at the Pepsi Plunge (top-rope Pedigree), but Albright gets a back body drop to send Punk down to the mat. Albright stays on top and goes for a diving headbutt, but Punk moves and it’s a crash and burn situation for the Shooter.

Both men get to their feet and exchange forearms in the middle of the ring. Punk finally strings a few together and goes for a lariat, but Albright ducks and grabs a waistlock. Three rolling German suplexes follow, and then Albright switches it up and hits a half-nelson suplex that drops Punk right on his head for the academic three-count at 10:24 (8:23 aired). Albright is announced as the winner and we immediately head to commercial.

The Analysis:
The storyline of Punk refusing to shake hands is an interesting one to watch as a Ring of Honor fan. Though his last months with ROH were spent as a company-defying heel, Punk had long been a follower of the Code of Honor (wherein competitors shake hands before and after matches). Albright was clearly considered the more skilled technical wrestler entering the match, but Punk responded by matching the Shooter almost literally move-for-move. As a fan of parity sequences and parallel structure, I certainly enjoyed the first part of the match, as it set a tone that had the two men competing as equals.

It can sometimes be tricky to have a newcomer come into a promotion and take on an established veteran (let alone a multiple time former champion), because unless the rookie goes over cleanly, he can leave the match with the stigma of “not being on [the veteran]’s level”. What Albright and Punk were able to do in this match was have Punk be considered a warrior who Albright needed all of his offense to defeat. Punk could have eventually fallen victim to the Crowbar and tapped out like countless other opponents that Albright had bested, but rather than go that route, Albright was never able to completely apply the hold and had to change up his game plan, going with more high risk offense like the diving headbutt. Albright, it seems, was only able to get such a routine pinfall because he bided his time and suplexed Punk into unconsciousness. It would have been unrealistic for Punk to not be put down for a three-count after the rolling Germans and a half-nelson suplex. In the end, Albright looks like a smart and tough ring veteran and Punk ends up looking like a talented and cagey upstart who was smart enough to scout his opponent (thereby knowing how to avoid and apply the Crowbar) and just came up short in this particular contest.

The Aftermath:
Albright and Punk would continue to be linked for the next several months in OVW. The two would become embroiled in a three-way feud over the OVW TV Title with then-champion Ken Doane, with Punk winning the belt and then managing to fend off both men in a number of matches. Although Punk was eventually defeated by Aaron Stevens for the title, he and Albright continued to clash over the vacant OVW Heavyweight Title (which was vacant as a result of champion Matt Cappotelli’s cancer diagnosis). Albright came out the winner when the two met in the title tournament finals, but Punk would eventually wrest the belt from his nemesis in a strap match in May of 2006.

Albright would go on to spend some time on WWE SmackDown! as ‘Gunner Scott’, but after being sent back to OVW, Albright was eventually released in October of 2006. It wasn’t long until Albright found his way to Ring of Honor, where he has recently set up shop as a hired gun, having allied himself with both “American Dragon” Bryan Danielson and Jimmy Jacobs & Lacey during recent events. Many fans believe that Albright may fill a similar role for ROH in 2007 to what James Gibson did during 2005; namely, as a technically sound veteran who will develop into an important main event presence.

As for CM Punk, after winning the OVW Heavyweight Title, he was called up to the newly restarted ECW promotion in short order. Though wins and losses have been mixed thus far, Punk has gained an incredible following amongst WWE’s fanbase and was particularly well received when teaming with long-time main eventers Triple H and Shawn Michaels (as well as the popular Hardy Boyz) at the 2006 Survivor Series. Though Bobby Lashley recently moved to ECW and ended up winning the brand’s World Title, many think it is only a matter of time before “CM Punk, ECW World Champion” is a reality.

What We Learned:
This is an interesting match to watch with some historical context, as the two men involved ended up going in almost opposite directions over the next year or so. While Albright had been a former Heavyweight Champion in OVW (and would go on to hold the title again), his fortunes with parent company WWE would not be so bright. Though the fans seemed to receive Albright’s stint as “Gunner Scott” reasonably well, he ended up lost in the shuffle and eventually released, only to eventually end up in Ring of Honor.

Conversely, Punk, having just left an extraordinarily successful run in ROH, would go on to WWE in a carefully planned and reasonably well-executed (so far) run in ECW. Where Albright found politics and a mid-card logjam, Punk has found a cult following and Pay-Per-View main events.

One element that didn’t come into play in this week’s match was each man’s ability to cut promos and communicate with the crowd. Though I am clearly biased, I don’t think I’m particularly out of line in saying that Punk is amongst the best in the business in these areas and has been for some time. Though Albright is certainly fine on the microphone, he is nowhere near Punk’s level, though that is far more a compliment to Punk than an indictment of Albright. Who’s to say that this one skill didn’t play some sort of role in each man’s WWE fortunes?

If we learn nothing else from this week’s match, we should take note that even when two competitors appear to be equals, they may turn out to be on different, even opposite, paths.

The Final Word:
Though I didn’t mention it earlier, I think it bears noting that AFI’s Miseria Cantare (The Beginning), which followed Punk as his entrance music from ROH to OVW, is one of my favorite wrestler entrance themes of all time. Though not evident at this point in his OVW stint, hearing a crowd pound along to the beat of the song is just an incredible prelude to Punk entering the arena. Also, the song’s anthemic chorus (“Love your hate, Your faith lost, You are now one of us!”) is a powerful lyric that seems to deeply connect to Punk’s character. The song itself is from AFI’s Sing the Sorrow album, which is just a fabulous record from top-to-bottom and is something any music fan with an open mind should really check out.

If you’d like to check out this week’s match, OVW TV is available on DVD at rohwrestling.com and is well worth your viewing dollars, as each set contains at least four shows. In particular, OVW TV for October 2005 includes the OVW Heavyweight Title match between Johnny Jeter and Matt Cappotelli that was a vastly underrated classic that didn’t get enough discussion during year-end awards talk for 2005. Quantities may be limited, but October 2005 was still available as of this writing.

A couple of things that you should make sure to check out this week on 411 are Ari Berenstein’s Column of Honor and Stuart Carapola’s always entertaining Friendly Competition. Also, be sure to read Jordan Linkous’ WWE vs. TNA column, as I help out as a guest columnist to discuss the potential of a William Regal vs. Nigel McGuinness matchup. I’ll leave it as an exercise to the reader to figure out which wrestler I write about.

Next week, we’re back to Ring of Honor with a match featuring two of the Independent scene’s best. Until then, keep that feedback coming and I’ll see you again next week in The Independent Mid-Card.

Oh, and thanks to Matt and Kristine. They are true thugs.